San Francisco, February 14: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this year would be "intense" due to the focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and related developments. Meta layoffs were announced on Monday, affecting around 3,600 employees. The company said it cut the jobs because they were "low performing." Amid intense competition in the tech market for AI, many companies have adopted different strategies and restructured their businesses to fit the trend.

According to reports, the laid-off Meta employees pushed back against the company's decision and said the term "lowest performers" was misleading and did not reflect their contribution. Since January 2025,  Mark Zuckerberg's company was expected to announce layoffs after he hinted about it during the all-hands meeting last year. Porsche Layoffs: German Luxury Automobile Giant To Cut 1,900 Jobs Amid Weak EV Demand and Economic Challenges.

The report mentioned that Meta raised the bar for the performance standard and conducted "intensive" job cuts. The employees affected by the latest round of Meta layoffs received notices. Those affected took to LinkedIn and shared their frustration; some also disputed being called "lowest performer".

One of the employees, Steven S, said he was let go not because he was a "low performer" but because the Meta layoffs were part of business strategy rather than focusing on performance. The employee posted on Instagram that he worked very hard last year and also pushed his team to work hard. He further argued that the layoffs were not focused on individual merit but on high-level business decisions. JPMorgan Chase Layoffs: US-Based Financial Firm Cuts Nearly 1,000 Jobs Despite Strong Financial Performance, Plans More Rounds of Layoffs in 2025.

Besides Meta, this year Google, Microsoft, and others have already announced layoffs due to the same reasons. The upcoming layoffs from the tech giants are expected to be focused more on performance, according to the reports. The shift in the industry for cost-cutting has been seen in terms of tech layoffs, which now focus on low performance. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2025 02:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).